PATTERN SHEET 15

Suit System:

FT

Recommended Name:

the Austrian Tarock Type B.

This pattern was originally classified as FT-2.2.
Usually known as "Austrian Tarock" or "Industrie und Glück
Tarock", as are FT-2.l and
FT-2.3. It is recommended that this pattern should be
called "Austrian Tarock Type B".

History

This pattern apparently became established at round about the same time as
Type A (FT-2.l), that is to say circa 1865. It includes
among the trumps a number of the designs found in Type A but, curiously, none of
those which derived from the earlier Steiger pack which depicted regional costumes.
The latter theme would seem to have been replaced by an odd mixture of rural and
exotic scenes. This concept was also followed in Type C (FT-2.3).

Type B had much the same area of manufacture (and, presumably, use) as Type A
and probably took its place when that pattern disappeared. It is still in production
today (1978) in both Austria and Hungary. As with Type A, packs made in Hungary
bore (and bear) the inscription "Szerencse Fel!" on trump II in place of
the more usual "Industrie und Glück". A pack made by Aug. Denk in
c.1930 included as replacement for the conventional legend "Dem
Vaterland die Treue".

Composition

Usually 54 cards. 4 suits of 8 cards: king, queen, cavalier, jack; red suits
ace-4, black suits 7-10, plus 21 trump cards and the Fool or Skys. Also known in
42-card form in which the composition is as before but the red 2-4s and black 7-9s
have been suppressed.